Artemis Gold’s Blackwater mine at final commissioning stage
Artemis now expects to feed first ore to the ball mill in the next few weeks and continues to target first gold pour before year end.
Shares in Talon Metals (TSX: TLO) opened Tuesday’s session up nearly 41.7%, trading near a 52-week high, following an earlier announcement that the company has signed a nickel supply agreement with Tesla.
Under the agreement, Tesla has committed to purchase 75,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate over a six-year period. A portion of the metals is projected to be produced from the Tamarack nickel project in Aitkin county, Minnesota, jointly owned by Talon and Rio Tinto.
Talon currently holds a 51% interest in the Tamarack project, comprising a large land position (18 km of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts outside the current resource area. The focus is to expand this nickel resource and develop a responsible processing capability in the US.
The Tesla supply agreement is conditional upon Talon earning an additional 9% interest in the Tamarack project (for a total of 60%) and moving the project towards commercial production.
Tesla also has a preferential right to negotiate for the purchase of additional nickel concentrate over and above the initial 75,000-tonne commitment.
By market close Tuesday, Talon’s stock erased some of its gains, but still traded up 16.6% at C$0.70 a share. The nickel miner has a market capitalization of approximately C$418 million.
